Media Center

Today, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Georgia challenging voting restrictions enacted since the 2020 election that federal authorities allege discriminate against Black Americans. The suit challenges Georgia’s so-called “Election Integrity Act,” which was passed in March by the Republican majority in the state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp. The law imposes new limits on the use of absentee ballots, gives the legislature greater control over elections in the state, and makes it a crime for outside groups to provide food and water to voters waiting at polling stations.

Today’s news of a $187,500 fine for AMI’s knowing and willful violation of campaign finance law is a win for democracy and for Common Cause. But the FEC’s failure to hold former-President Trump and his campaign accountable for this violation lays bare the dysfunction at the FEC. Less than a month ago we learned that GOP Commissioners had similarly blocked enforcement against Trump for the illegal Stormy Daniels hush payment. And the agency has again shown itself incapable of fully enforcing the campaign finance laws passed by Congress.

Common Cause is urging every member of the U.S. Senate to vote for cloture on the motion to proceed and support the House-passed H.R. 3233 to establish a 9/11-style commission to investigate the violent attack January 6th on the United States Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The letter notes that Common Cause plans to score this cloture vote on the motion to proceed to this legislation to create the “National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex” in the next version of our Democracy Scorecard which we send to our 1.5 million members.

Change is long overdue to a system that has delivered unequal justice to far too many in our state for far too long. In the year since the tragic murder of George Floyd, we have seen the conviction of Mr. Floyd’s murderer, but Minnesotans are still waiting for justice. Minnesotans deserve real reforms to prevent what happened to Mr. Floyd, and others, from ever happening again. Our legislative leaders must make commonsense policing reforms a top priority and they must not come up short again.

Common Cause is urging every member of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote “yes” on a bill to establish a 9/11-style commission to investigate the violent attack January 6th on the United States Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The letter notes that Common Cause plans to key-vote final passage of H.R. 3233 to create the “National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex” (H.R. 3233) in our next Democracy Scorecard, which we send to our 1.5 million members.

Today Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced the Census FACTS Act to ensure that future censuses do not see the unprecedented level of political malfeasance and politicalization that plagued the 2020 Census count.  The Census Federal Advisory Committee on Transparency and Standards (Census FACTS) Act charges Congress and President Biden to create an expert, nonpartisan committee to identify the specific problems encountered during the 2020 Census -- including political interference by the Trump Administration; the COVID-19 pandemic; and the level of transparency, public participation, and responsiveness on the part of the Census Bureau in making its policy decisions. In highlighting these problems and making recommendations to fix them, the committee established by the Census FACTS Act would help to restore the public confidence in the Census Bureau. Separately, the bill also clarifies the Reapportionment Act of 1929 to ensure that total population is used in Congressional redistricting.